political party and corruption in nigeria: assessment ... · corruption in nigeria, with an...

Sahel Analyst: ISSN 1117-4668 38

POLITICAL PARTY AND CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA: ASSESSMENT

OF THE APC’S ANTI-CORRUPTION CRUSADE

Ikenga, Francis Ayegbunam1

Abstract

Corruption constitutes a major image problem for Nigeria locally and

internationally. Democratic parties that are required to promote good

governance by performing political and social functions that can help to link the

government to the citizenry, fails to fulfill party promises by coming up with

improper and inadequate policies that enables them to satisfy party leaders,

faithful and supporters. Public resources are used by political parties in power

for self-aggrandizement rather than to ensure the self-actualization of Nigerian

citizen. Consequently, allowing corruption to blossom. Attempts by successive

administration to curb the escalation of corruption yielded low result. During

campaign for the 2015 general elections, the All Progressive Congress (APC)

promised change through its manifestoes and the Presidential Candidate,

Muhammadu Buhari vowed to tackle corruption, which gathers momentum

under the Jonathan’s administration. This paper examined political party and

corruption in Nigeria, with an assessment of the APC’s anti-corruption crusade.

Adopting the secondary source of data collection, information for this study was

generated from journal articles, internet materials, books, magazines and

newspaper articles, which were meticulously analyzed; using the content

analysis method. The paper revealed that the APC has exhibited a firm political

will to fight corruption in the socio-economic system of Nigerians. The paper

concluded that the APC’s steps in the fight against corruption are on the right

track, but should be holistic, transparent, non-selective, thorough and done in

accordance with the law. The paper recommended that the anti-graft war be

institutionalized through decentralization and the establishment of the agencies

offices in all the levels of government.

Keywords: Corruption, Political party, Democracy, Governance, Development

Introduction

Political parties everywhere in the world are very powerful institutions of

democracy, as they provide linkage between government and their citizenry.

According to Blechinger (2002), they have the responsibility to function as

builders of social capital and their contribution to voters‘ education and human

development are enormous. No democracy can function properly without viable

and functional political parties, and no political party can be viable in a corrupt

1 Department of Political Science, Delta State University, Abraka, Delta State, Nigeria.

08037793612 [email protected],

mailto:[email protected]

Sahel Analyst: Journal of Management Sciences (Vol.16, No.2, 2018), University of Maiduguri

Sahel Analyst: ISSN 1117- 4668 Page 139

political system/ environment. But the inability of any political party to short

change the democratic arrangements results in corruption.

Corruption on the other hand, is a global disease that has stagnated development

processes in many countries. Transparency International and its Corruption

Perception Index (CPI) has shown that many countries have remained buried in

corruption without making efforts at overcoming the scourge (Oketola &

Adetayo, 2012). Countries like Chile, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Greece, Colombia,

Kenya, Gabon, Pakistan, Yemen, Azerbaijan, Nigeria, Mali and Venezuela are

amongst the countries that have witnessed and are still witnessing the damaging

effect of corruption. Fedotov, at a conference organized by the United Nations

Convention against Corruption in Panama City, noted that corruption has a

destructive impact across the world. It has been estimated by the World Bank

that, on yearly basis, between $20 to $40 billion dollars is lost from developing

countries due to corruption and bribery (UNODC, 2016). Just recently, the

South Korean leader, Park Geun-Hye was removed from office as a result of

corruption.

In Nigeria, scholars have concluded that corruption is pandemic and cuts across

religious inclination, cultural background and political systems. It has been

viewed as a perversion or a change from good to bad (Dike, 2008). According to

Ayobami (2011), the dishonesty and illegal behaviour exhibited by people in

authority for their personal aggrandizement is corruption. According to

Transparency International Perception Index for 2015 which measured public

sector corruption in 168states; scored Nigeria below the average for sub-Sahara

Africa by ranking her 136th (Transparency International, 2015). Corruption has

underdeveloped Nigeria, as the resources meant for development are channeled

into private pockets. As a result of the systematic paralyses that the Nigerian

political system was experiencing, the PDP in 1999 established the Economic

and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the ICPC to tame corruption and

prevent its growth in Nigeria. After about ten years, corruption fought back and

persisted in Nigeria and growing in momentum, with the Nigerian political

actors misusing their lofty position to extort bribe and redirect public resources

under their care to their party leaders and their supporters; to facilitate their re-

election bid. This weakened their performances and encouraged their inability to

function in a way that will make the Nigerian democracy to be responsive. It

also weakened democratic institutions, made Nigeria a failed state (Wali, 2013),

and established itself as a norm. After the general election in 2015, it became the

turn of the APC to stage a fight against corruption, using the same anti-

corruption agencies. The APC‘s anti-corruption crusade is what this paper

sought to examine.

Political Party and Corruption in Nigeria: Assessment of the APC’s Anti-corruption Crusade

Sahel Analyst: ISSN 1117-4668 Page 140

Literature Review

Democracy: This is a form of government that existed in the ancient Greek city-

states, as the ‗rule of the people‘. It started in Europe in the 19th century and

later extended to the other parts of the world. The rate at which this system

spread from very few countries to many other countries, showed its universality.

Although scholars have not agreed on a definition, but there are some essential

features that characterizes it. These are: Periodic elections, free and fair

elections, civil and political right of the citizens, independent of the Judiciary,

Minority rights recognized (Johari, 2011). Democracy is a generally accepted

system of administration in which the people‘s right to govern directly or

indirectly resides with their periodically elected representatives (Ezeani, 2010).

For this democracy to be active and viable, political parties are required to

compete for elective positions.

Political party: Like other concepts in political science, political party has been

defined in various ways by scholars. Party is perceived to be made up of a group

of people with common political beliefs to attain and maintain political power.

Political party performs the following in any democratic system:

i. Unite, simplify and stabilize the political system

ii. Struggle to capture power

iii. Provide links between the government and the people

iv. Recruiting political leaders and setting value goals for the society

v. Serves as the broker of idea and educating the electorate

vi. Interest articulation and aggregation (Johari, 2011).

Their inability to perform these functions favourably in a way that the people

will benefit provokes inequality, which leads to bad governance and by

extension; encourages corruption.

Corruption: corruption is a global problem that needs urgent attention.

According to Adedeji and Olanrewaju (2012), corruption is a demonic social

vice that constrains the national development of any country. Its intensity is

very high in the developing nations and has impeded governance and

development. It is counterproductive, and deeply rooted in bureaucratic and

political institutions. There are four forms of corruption, namely: political

corruption, social corruption, economic corruption and judicial corruption.

Whatever form it takes cuts across faiths, religious denominations and political

systems (Lipset and Lenz, 2000). Achebe blamed the endemic corruption in

Nigeria on leadership failure (Sited in Baldauf, 2013). According to UNODC

(2016), ―corruption was not simply a crime, it was the instigator of other

criminal activities such as transnational organized crime and drug trafficking.

Corruption is the thief of economic and social development; stealing the

opportunities of ordinary people to progress and to prosper,‖ According to

President Buhari in Nigerianewsfan (2016), ―Corruption is a hydra-headed

monster and a worm that tends to ruin the fabric of every society. It has no

difference between developed and developing countries. It constitutes a serious

threat to good governance, rule of law, peace and security, as well as



development programmes aimed at tackling poverty and economic

backwardness‖.

According to Atelhe and Timikoru (2014), the factors that encourage corruption

and corrupt practices in Nigeria are as follows:

i. Great inequality in distribution of wealth,

ii. Political office as the primary means of gaining access to wealth;

iii. Conflict between changing moral codes;

iv. The weakness of social and governmental enforcement mechanisms;

and

v. The absence of strong sense of national community.

Governance: Governance is the ability to exercise power and authority in

political and economic spheres. Akawu (2007) views it as the making and

execution of policy that are regulated by laws and guidelines, which are

segregated into specific national objectives. Governance has been accepted to

be good, when the organs of government deliver and function efficiently with

integrity and commitment. In 1992, the World Bank noted that good governance

is central to creating and sustaining an environment, which fosters strong and

equitable development (Sharma, Sadana &Kaur, 2012). A United Nations

Human Development Report outlines principles and values of good governance

as follows:

i. A system of representation with well-functioning political parties and

interest associations;

ii. An electoral system that guarantees free and fair elections as well as

universal suffrage;

iii. A system of checks and balances based on the separation of powers, with

an independent judicial and legislative branch;

iv. A vibrant civil society, able to monitor government and private business-

and provide alternative forms of political participation;

v. A free, independent media; and

vi. Effective civilian control over the military and other security forces

(Mattew & Idowu, 2012).

Governance is achievable when public resources, conditions and situations are

created for the citizens‘ self-actualization.

Political parties, mostly the ones in power in the country are known for

misappropriation. Yusuf maintains that this was the position of an integrity

report by Global Integrity in the United States. He adds that money in politics

challenges states world over, while its abuse raises problems of corruption;

undermining legitimacy and governance. In Nigerian, Yusuf asserts that the data

showed that contributions and unlimited donation to parties are capped and

parties do not file their expenditure report or are not transparent. He maintains

that in spite of the prohibition on the use of non financial state resources during



electioneering, the ruling party in the 2011 general elections, made use of state

buildings, vehicles and staff for electioneering purposes. He concludes by

stating that since 2006, the Global Integrity has conducted eight rounds of

research in Nigeria and ruling parties have misappropriated public funds without

accounting for it (Yusuf, 2015).

Baldauf, in an interview with Chinua Achebe writes that Nigeria had a difficult

colonial history and at the same time, he maintains, that Nigerians cannot free

ourselves from being responsible for their present condition. He asserts that

corruption in Nigeria is endemic as a result of leadership failure. According to

him, this has made corruption easy and profitable. He suggests that corruption

in Nigeria will be controlled only when, Nigerians have checks and balances

that will make this menace to be difficult to achieve. He asserts that Nigeria‘s

First Republic brought into existence in all the regions, leaders who were not

perfect, but were responsible, fair and had a vision for the country compared to

the ones after them. He explains that the several crises that resulted in the

deadly civil war brought Nigeria under the control of a group of people who are

visionless and lack understanding of the modern world, the military. He

maintained that it was at the time that decline and decadence set in and continue

to reign in Nigeria. He adds that the leadership of the Second Republic

followed blindly the mistakes of the military. He states that, it was at this time,

that the scale corruption and irregularity increased with the abundance of petrol-

dollars. He opines that the Nigerian situation became worse when military

dictators transformed themselves to democrats in the Third Republic. He

maintains that the same cult of mediocrity has ruled Nigeria, since the existence

of the first republic. He says that for about forty years, this corrupt cabal had

recycled themselves under many guise and incarnations. He explains that these

have deeply corrupted the local elite. He concludes by emphasizing the need for

a servant leader who will be prepared educationally, morally and otherwise. He

argues that this leader which has eluded Nigeria can come only when the

processes of electing leaders are free and fair in Nigerian democracy (Baldauf,

2013).

Corruption is seen as one of the unresolved problems in Nigeria. According to

Osiobe and Isedu, it is endemic in all government and not peculiar to any

continent, region and ethnic group. They believe that even though corruption

has been in existence in many societies from ancient Egypt, Israeli Rome and

Greece down to the present, the magnitude differs. They however assert that

right from the 90‘s, Nigeria has been ranked as one of the most corrupt nations

by Transparency International and Gottingen University. Osiobe and Isedu

maintain that there are six different types of corruption namely: Political

Corruption, bureaucratic corruption, electoral favouritism, nepotism and cost of

governance. They opine that a major cause of corruption in Nigeria is the great

inequality. They opine that corruption in Nigeria persist as a result of the

inequality in the distribution of wealth, obsession with materialism, lack of



ethical standards in government agencies and ineffective taxing system. They

see corruption as a shortcut to affluence, glorification and approbation. They

maintain that the effect of corruption on Nigeria‘s socio-political and economic

development are numerous, ranging from the reduction of public expenditure on

education, to the up-setting of ethical balances and the exacerbation of the

problems of national integration. They conclude by stating that corruption

undermines effective governance and those in power are the main culprits. They

recommend that large scale corruption should be combated as it remains a

significant cause of underdevelopment (Osiobe & Isedu, 2007).

Blechinger writes that in either industrialized democracies or developing

democracies of the world, parties are often perceived as part of the corruption

problem. According to him, evidences have shown that Political Parties are key

players in the Political System, but misuse their power in channeling public

recourses to party leaders and supporters. He explains that party corruption is

one of the many problems facing new democracies and development nations,

where political and economic institutions have not been fixed. This he says can

weaken or erode public trust and lead to lack of voter‘s participation in the

Political system; thereby threatening the existence of democracy. He maintains

that high level corruption on the long run can provide the platform for political

parties to remain in Power, thereby setting the stage for authoritarian system,

one party system and a non-democratic system. He opines that Political parties

that are not corrupt are blessing to their system as they can perform numerous

functions. Blechinger (2002) identifies the different areas of party activities and

their incentives for corruption. He illustrates the incentives using studies from

developing, transitional and industrialized nations. He introduces and came out

with an evaluation of strategies and initiatives to remove the incentives for

corruption. According to him, these strategies includes: restructuring party

authority, improving accountability, re-aligning incentives and changing

attitudes and mobilizing political will. He concludes that the re-distribution of

public assets which is a sine qua non for domestic transition is always

obstructed by corruption (Blechinger, 2002).

Sharma, Sodana and Kaur State that corruption is a universal phenomenon. Like

Osiobe and Isedu, they believe that no society is free from corruption. They

gave a highlight of different countries that have been involved in corruption and

assert that corruption by elected officials and bureaucrats have damaging effect

on the image of any country, and decreases the effectiveness of development

programmes in that country. They assert that in a country like India,

administrative and Political corruption is no longer surprising, as it is a norm

and so has become the worst bane of their society. They maintain that ground

level corruption has made peoples‘ life miserable and instances of this type of

corruption are innumerable. Sharma, sodana and Kaur (2012) explains that

government machinery in itself is has the most corrupting influence. They assert



that governments in any social formation have the same meaning with

corruption, waste, low quality and dishonesty. They add that whether political or

administrative corruption, both are dangerous for any system. According to

them, corruption is a difficult concept to define and includes: misconduct by

civil and public servant, illegal gratification, possession of wealth

disproportionate and misappropriation of public property. From this they agree

that corruption as a general term covering misuse of authority, resulting from

the consideration of personal gain, which may not be monetary. They assert that

improper education and training, low salaries; inadequate supervision, political

patronage and ineffective action against corruption are some of the causes of

corruption. They listed the following causes of corruption in the world and

provided remedies according to the econometric analysis of 69 countries by an

agency of the world bank in 1997.These are: social environment, low salaries of

public servants, administrative delays, clumsy handling of corruption cases,

inefficient judicial system, political causes, inadequate laws to deal with

corruption, lack of willingness to enforce laws, pressure groups and absence of

strong public opinion against corruption. They listed the remedies to include:

posting and transferring of civil servants, assets statements, autonomous

investigative agency that is viable, accountability in administration, simplified

administrative procedures, separate court for corruption cases, decentralization

of administration, strong civil society and electoral reforms. In general they

conclude that the causes of corruption are historical/cultural, political, structural

and bureaucratic (Sharma, Sodana & Kaur, 2012).

The literature took a critical look at corruption, its effects, causes and remedies,

maintaining that corruption is endemic and destructive. But none of these

assessed anti-corruptions in Nigeria under the Buhari‘s administration; and this

is what this study is set out to achieve.

Theoretical Framework

The paper adopted the elite theory for its framework of analysis. Different

scholars wrote on the elite theory. It was however popularized by the works of

two sociologists, Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923) and Geatano Mosca (1858-1941).

Scholars like - Vilfredo Pareto, Geatano Mosca, C. Wright Mills (1956), Max

Weber (1864-1920) and Roberts, M. (1876-1936), demonstrated in their writing

that the Marxist idea on the non-existence of a class in the society is a

misconception. According to them, the society is classed in two – the minority

who ruled and the majority, who are ruled. The scholars in their different

writing posit that the political elite are the minority who rules, contest for

power, make and take decisions and affect political requirement by their actions

(Agarwal 2011). The elite does not have a fixed structure, but changes according

to the needs, political contention and competition (Agarwal 2011), a concept

which Pareto sees as the circulation of bites. Membership comes firstly, from

political leaders, which include the president, some cabinet members and



advisers; secondly from corporate owners and directors and thirdly, from High-

ranking military leaders, which includes serving and retired members.

The elite are the same everywhere, generally small in size; but exert influence

very far in excess of their number. They are known for their transformation

nature; hence, for societies to succeed, they must in positive terms engage and

shape the public in a way that the national interest becomes achievable.

Societies cannot be truly transformed unless the elite allows. In Nigeria,

membership to this group that has access to key positions of the society is often

through inheritance, top brass of the military, top brass of the judiciary,

intelligential, religious and the business-capitalist. Thus the categories in

Nigeria are; political, business, intellectual and religious. Unlike their

counterpart elsewhere, the governing elite in Nigeria rather than transform the

country, they prefer to manipulate and exploit the people. Political parties that

are required by law to present flag bearers for elections; do not follow laid down

democratic principles. Even if they manage to follow these principles, winners

are shortchanged by their political parties, and candidates are imposed. That

explains why the Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osibajo notes, that the

actions and inactions of the elite has affected and is still affecting the rest of the

nation, as their penchant for wealth is responsible for the growth of corruption in

Nigeria (Nwabughiogu, 2017). Once they are in power, they approve for

themselves indefensible severance allowances outside the approved ones,

formulate policies and implement them in a way that their selfish aims are

achieved. They display their ill-gotten wealth in luxury and ostentatious life

style; thereby creating an environment for corruption to grow and develop. To

acquire wealth and live a comfortable life, the Nigerian youth submits himself

or herself to the elite‘s manipulation. They become an instrument of violence for

the elite. Monies often meant for the citizens‘ wellbeing are diverted and

misappropriated without explanation. They satisfy their political leaders and

godfathers, who assisted them to become elected. They are loyal to this people

rather than the electorate, who are elected them. As Ackerman (2007) explains,

widespread corruption is a symptom of a non-functioning state, which has the

potentials to undermine economic growth and development. The primitive way

the elite accumulate wealth and expends it on self, preparing for a re-election,

rather than fulfilling electioneering promises has shown their lack focus for the

advancement of the Nigerian democracy. The Nigerian governing elite has

shown by their actions that they are the bane of Nigeria‘s development and a

fundamental threat to the survival of Nigeria‘s democracy.

Research Method

The study adopted the ex-post facto research design. This research design is

mostly used in the social sciences research and political science in particular,

since it relies on data on existed phenomenon and occurrences/past

events/already existing conditions. Hence, the researcher had no control over the



information or data on such events since they already existed and can neither be

manipulated nor changed by the researcher. Basically, secondary sources of data

were relied on in this study.

Manifestation of Corruption in Political Parties in the Fourth Republic

The indiscipline and corruption amongst political parties starts with candidates‘

selection and nomination. During this period political party becomes

undemocratic, short changing candidates and replacing them with those who can

pay the required amount for a particular position. Candidates are extorted by

party leaders and political party investors, otherwise known as the godfathers.

At the end of the exercise, wrong candidates are often substituted for the right

ones and this happens in all political parties in Nigeria. Convention time

becomes a period for money sharing, buying of delegates, importation of non-

delegates and the buying of votes. This was one of the issues that almost

disintegrated the PDP before the 2015 general elections and they lost that

election. A good example was the Ondo APC convention that took place in

September, where, it was alleged that 157 fake delegates were injected into the

delegates‘ list in 12 of the 18 local governments areas (LGAs), which has

caused crisis in the APC (Akure, 2016); with leaders like Tinubu, Alhaji Atiku

and other calling for the resignation of their national chairman, Chief John

Oyegun.

Another area where political parties manifest corruption is during campaigns.

Party governors use the opportunity to loot their treasury to support and

maintain their seats in government. In the last election, political parties bribed

voters in cash and kind. Donations to political parties are capped and there is an

outright violation of the law in the declaration of their expenditure report. Since

1999, none had declared their expenditure report, but in the 2011 elections; only

two of the twenty-three political parties declared their expenditure (Yusuf,

2015). The 2015 general election was one of the most expensive in Africa, with

political parties collecting and spending above the required limits by the

Electoral Acts (Omeje, 2017).

Another area of manifestation is the manipulation of the supporters to ferment

trouble. Political parties do not play by the rules in other to win and no one is

ready to lose election, especially when so much has been paid to political party

investors. No one is ready to accept defeat, hence, money and weapons are

provided for thugs to cause trouble before or after the elections.

Another area of manifestation is fixing and earning jumbo allowances. Since

1999, Nigerian lawmakers have earned salaries higher than their counterparts in

the developed countries according to the analysis published by the Economist

(Pindiga, 2013). In the budgets, a very high amount has always been voted for

them and they receive padded allowances. They have never agreed to the



implementation of reduced pay package, sighting that the constitution never

allowed their salaries to be reviewed to their disadvantage (Pindiga, 2013),

meanwhile, workers are either unpaid their entitlement or under paid. This

shows that the people‘s welfare means nothing to the lawmakers. Let us do a

calculation of just the wardrobe allowance at N506, 600 per lawmaker, and they

are 469. That is just N237, 595,400 for clothes.

Other allowances includes: Hardship Allowance, 50% of Basic Salary (BS)

Constituency Allowance: 200% of BS, Furniture Allowance: 300 % of BS,

Newspaper Allowance: 50 % of BS, Wardrobe Allowance: 25 %, Recess

Allowance: 10 %, Accommodation: 200 %, Utilities: 30 %, Domestic Staff: 35

%, Entertainment: 30 %, Personal Assistance: 25 %, Vehicle Maintenance

Allowance: 75 %, Leave Allowance: 10 %, Severance Gratuity: 300 %, Motor

Vehicle Allowance: 400 % of BS. Apart from these, the different committees of

the house are funded, with each getting between N648 to N972m on average

(Ujah, 2015). One is tempted to ask, what the lawmakers do with the money.

Sometimes after collecting money for some project, they will still find a way to

get money for the same thing that they have collected money for. A typical

example was the APC and the PDP Senators in the 8th National Assembly who

collected car loans in August 2015, but still got money somehow, even though it

was not appropriated, to buy 108 SUVs for themselves (Agbakwuru, 2016).

They also introduced new allowances such as, housemaids, children allowances,

transport and inconvenience allowances for moving from towns and villages to

come to the National Assembly complex in Abuja to represent their

constituencies (Akintide, 2016). What the Nigerian lawmakers get, what they

use monies for made them the richest lawmakers in the world and Nigeria one of

the poorest and most corrupt. The former President Olusegun Obasanjo was

displeased with members of the 8th Assembly and had to accuse them of

allocating to themselves salaries and allowances that are far above what the

Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission approved for them

(The Vanguard, 2016).

Another area of manifestation is in budget padding. From 1999 to date, scholars

have asserted that political parties has constantly being padding the budget;

believing that no one or agency has the power to look closely and curiously at

the National Assembly as a result of their statutory protection, under the

Legislative Houses Powers and Privileges Act (Nnochiri, 2016). This has

encouraged institutional corruption (Odunsi, 2016), of the National Assembly to

serially pad the Nigerian budget since 1999 (Gaskia, 2016). According to

Gaskia (2016), budget preparation has become an annual ritual of arbitrary

insertion and allocations between the Executive and the Legislature, and from

the Senate investigation committee in 2012; approximately 8, 000 federal

projects costing about N12trillion were abandoned, with N2.2trn mobilization

fee paid. After the drama that played out before the 2016 appropriation bill was



passed, Hon Jubril Abdulmumin accused the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, his

deputy, Yusuff Lasun, the Chief Whip, Alhassan Ado Doguwa and the Minority

Leader Leo Ogor, of senselessly inserting/padding the 2016 budget with 2, 000

projects, worth N248bn (Odunsi, 2016). This arose as a result of the

unfavourable sharing formulae, because overtime, it has become a notion that

when the formulae are unfavourable; you hear them calling for the resignation

of the Speaker. The accusation and counter accusation is a demonstration of the

inherent and congenital corrupt nature of those that the different political parties

have brought to represent the people of Nigeria. Since 1999, the Nigerian

Parliament has been haunted by scandals.

Another area of manifestation that is closely linked to padding is constituency

projects, which the law makers have imported into the budgetary system

(Gaskia, 2016). In the appropriation bill, funds are made available to the law

makers to execute projects of their choice in their constituencies. According to

Senator Adesoji Akanbi, Oyo South senatorial district, contractors execute,

while law makers supervise before payment is made (Adesomoju, Olokor, &

Onuba, 2016). According to the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, the

lawmakers are also supposed to maintain a constituency office. However,

monies are collected shared between the executive and the legislature, with no

office maintained. In a research conducted by Robert Clark, almost N2trn has

been approved for these constituency projects since 1999 and 80 percent of the

amounts allocated were never used for the project (Clark, 2016). The projects

are abandoned and the money just goes into private pockets. This is one of the

reasons why Civil Society Organizations see it as an organized fraud, as it has

no legal framework and has been assumed by political parties as a mean to get

back monies spent for electioneering campaigns. Nigeria would have become

littered with infrastructural and social facilities, if the 469 lawmakers (i.e.,

469*11years) had used the monies budgeted since 2004 for the constituency

projects that they were meant for. All these are happening in a country where 75

percent of the population live below one dollar ($1) a day.

Effect of Corruption in Nigeria

The fundamental effect of corruption on the different spheres of the Nigeria

economy cannot be over-emphasized. Since 1999, the Executive arm of the

political party in power have come out with different, appropriating it for capital

projects, and other projects that will better the people‘s lives, but yet about 80%

of Nigerians live below the poverty line and the state of Nigeria‘s infrastructure

and social amenities are discouraging. Nigeria had made over N96trillion since

crude oil exploitation and exploration began in 1958 and no quality welfare

package for the citizenry (Ndujihe, Akinrefon, Kumolu & Oke, 2016); rather

politics has turned warfare, as politicians do all within their power to return to

office after the expiration of their tenure. According to Mallam Nuhu Ribadu,

former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission chairman, Nigeria had lost



about $380b between when Nigeria became independence in 1960 and when

military rule ended (Buba, 2010). From the $233billion earned by Nigeria

between 1999 and 2007, it was reported by scholars and even politicians that on

average; Nigeria had lost between $4billion and $8billion yearly to corruption

(Mustapha, 2010).

The table and figure below showed Nigeria‘s revenues/ income since the

beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999. It revealed that Nigeria‘s total

revenue and grants from 2000 to 2016 amounted to over N124trn. With this

huge sum, cost of governance has always being inflated and government

services have reduced drastically. Nigeria had been stunned by a very high level

of corruption as the huge sums that the country had recorded as revenue and

grants over the period, is not commensurate with the level of Nigeria‘s

development. The APC administration blamed the PDP dominance of the polity

for sixteen years for misappropriation and destruction of the nation‘s productive

capacities (Ndujihe, Akinrefon, Kumolu, & Oke, 2016). The table 1 showed that

there was an increase in revenue generation between 2011 and 2016.

Table 1: Nigeria's Total Revenue and Grants 2000 – 2016

Year Total Grant &

Revenue

(N 'm)

Name of Party in

Power

President

2000 1,986,949.00 PDP Olusegun Obasanjo







2007 5,715,600.00 PDP Umaru Musa Yar‘Adua




2011 11,116,900.00 PDP Jonathan Goodluck





2016 13,364,453.00 APC Mohammed Buhari

Source: AfDB (2016, 2015, 2009)



Figure 1: Curve Showing the Trend of Nigeria‘s Revenue and Grants (2000 –

2016)

Attempts at Fighting Corruption in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic

After Abacha became the military head in Nigeria in 1997. He manipulated his

National Security Adviser (NSA), Ismaila Gwarzo to prepare letters requesting

for millions of naira, dollars and pounds to take care of unidentified

emergencies that may threaten Nigeria‘s existence and interests. These letters

later metamorphosed and became known as the security votes, which were sent

to the Central Bank of Nigeria for disbursement. They also employed debt

buyback, extortion and kickbacks from contracts awarded (Asiwe, 2016a), as

other means of exploiting the system. According to Asiwe (2016a), some of

these monies were wire transferred, deposited or made use of through travellers‘

checks. Through these means, Gen. Abacha, his NSA, Bagudu, Mohammed

Abacha and others involved defrauded and stole lots of money in local and

foreign currencies and starched them in foreign accounts abroad. At this time,

corruption had eaten deep into the Nigerian system as there was no anti-graft

agency. Equally at this period, the image of Nigeria had become damaged with

the Transparency International Corruption perception index ranking Nigeria, as

one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

In 1999, when the PDP assumed office through Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, they

promised to fight corruption and retrieve monies deposited abroad by the Gen.

Sani Abacha‘s administration. To achieve this, he presented a bill titled

―corruption and other related offences‖ to the National Assembly. This led to

the establishment of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),

headed by Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and the Independent ICPC, headed by Justice

Mustapha Akanbi. There were economic reforms which came by the

privatization of government institutions, the overhauling and re-capitalization of

Chart Title

200020012002200320042005



the banking sector and the transparency fiscal standard set for all companies. It

also instituted the Code of Conduct Bureau, Criminal Code, and the Recovery of

Public Property Act of 1984. The PDP under Olusegun Obasanjo also

established the budget monitoring and price intelligence unit, later called the due

process, headed by Dr. Oby Ezekwesili. The PDP however retained the security

vote fraud, introduced outrageous allowances to be paid to the executive,

legislature and judiciary and was unable to tame corruption as a result of lack of

transparency in the income generated and monies retrieved from the Abacha‘s

loot (Dania, 2016). Although, PDP‘s Minister for finance, Dr Iweala, admitted

that the PDP under Olusegun Obasanjo was able to save $22billion for Nigeria

(Aziken, 2016a); members of his party supported his re-election bid as a result

of the bribe/gift that he offered them. Thus, corruption persisted despite all the

administration achieved.

From 2007 to 2010, the EFCC and the ICPC under late President Yar‘ Adua

were not as active as they were in 2003 under Obasanjo. After the death of the

president, his Vice, Goodluck Jonathan took over and was later re-elected as the

president or Nigeria in 2011. Under him, since there was no institutional reform

of the anti-graft agencies; the EFCC slowed down the hunt for corrupt members

of the public especially public office holders and as a result, the level of

corruption rose to an unprecedented height. As a result of the weakness of the

anti-graft agencies, the lawmakers, ministers and other office holders embraced

corruption. Transparency International criticized the former president, Dr.

Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP for paying lip service to anti-graft war and not

showing enough drive to fight corruption, especially corruption involving past

and members of his administration (Oketola, & Adetayo, 2012). The PDP‘s

finance minister and co-ordinating minister of the economy under Jonathan‘s

administration asserted that the PDP under Jonathan‘s leadership lacked the

political will to save (Aziken, 2016a). By implication, the PDP under Jonathan

only shares but cannot save. That explains why Nigeria requested and was

granted a loan of $100million to fund the war against insurgency in the north

(Ajayi, 2016), and at the same time, the PDP under former President Jonathan

approved $2.1bn (see table 2) for procurement of arms for the same counter

terrorism operation in the country; thereby bringing the total amount to 2.1bn.

Table 2: NNPC’S Disbursement for Arms Procurement

Date & Month Year Amount in Dollars

27TH

March 2014 1billion

9TH

April 2014 200million

5TH

May 2014 600 million

5TH

May 2014 200 million

12TH

January 2015 100 million

Sources: (Abdulganiy, 2015)


Sahel Analyst: ISSN 1117-4668 2

Rather than use the money for what it was meant for, the PDP under the

Jonathan administration confirmed his global criticizing by Transparency

International and allowed the sharing of the money by party stalwart, to ensure

his re-election in 2015. Table 3 (see Appendix) listed of some of the

beneficiaries.

It showed that N23.29 billion was given to the Minister of Petroleum, Diezani

Allison-Madueke to disburse to politicians as campaign funds. It also showed

that the federal government spent N10billion to fund the Ekiti and Osun

elections, while various sums were collected directly from the office of the

National Security Adviser by the PDP secretary, governors, ministers, ex-

governors and business associates. This sharing was the height of corruption,

done with impunity and in complete disregard for Nigeria‘s national security.

This shows that the veins of Nigerian politicians are filled with all shades of

corrupt tendencies rather than blood.

APC and the fight against Corruption in Nigeria

The 2015 general elections however provided an opportunity for the opposition

parties to fight for the exulted position, which the PDP had dominated for

sixteen years. Following the approval of INEC, the request for the merger of

major opposition political parties in Nigeria (ACN, ANPP, CPC & APGA),

produced the APC.

The APC chose the three vital areas that are of great importance to Nigerians,

namely: security, anti-corruption and economic development. Fighting

corruption became the APC‘s main priority and this led to the massive votes that

came from Nigerians. In other not to disappoint Nigerians, the APC came to

power and for the first time kept to the promise made during electioneering

campaign. It strengthened and revamped the anti-graft agencies (EFCC and the

ICPC), that were established by the PDP to ensure their independence in the

arrest and persecution of corrupt individuals.

After the re-creation of the anti-graft agencies, the APC government under a

year, embarked on several journeys radically campaigning for the return of

stolen funds stashed in foreign countries. As a result of the doggedness of the

APC‘s anti- corruption posture in the country, some Nigerians returned stolen

monies to the government coffers, but were neither persecuted nor revealed. The

APC government is still working hard to recover N57.2bn from some senators,

namely: Ahmed Sani Yerima (N1bn), Joshua Dariye (N1.2bn), Danjuma Goje

(25bn), Abdullahi Adamu (15bn), and Abdulaziz Nyako (15bn) (Adesomoju,

Olokor, & Onuba, 2016). However, since Socio-Economic Rights and

Accountability Project (SERAP) took the APC government to court, requesting

that the Federal government declare the amount so far recovered (Anaba, 2016).

The APC government in complete obedience to the fundamental principles of



transparency and accountability, declared below from its interim report what

was recovered. Table 4 a – c showed items recovered:

Table 4a: Cash Recoveries made by the APC’s anti-corruption Crusade

Serial Items Naira US Dollar GB Pounds Euro

1 Cash with EFCC 39,169,911,023.00 128,494,076.66 2,355 11,250

2 Royalty/tax/payment to

FGN account in JP

Morgan account New

York

4,642,958,711.48 40,727,253.65

3 ONSA Funds Recovery

Account in CBN

5,665,305,527.41 8,000,000.00

4 VAT recovered from

companies by ONSA

529,588,293.47

5 EFCC in CBN 19,267,730,359.36 455,253.80

6 ICPC Recovery in CBN 869,957,444.89

7 From Attorney

General‘s office

5,500,000,000 5,500,000

8 Recoveries by DSS 47,707,000.5 1,943,000.5 3,506,000.46

9 Cash Recovery by ICPC 2,632,196,271.71

Total 78,325,354,631.82 185,119,584.61 3,508,355.46 11,250

Table 4b: Items Recovered under Interim Forfeiture Serial Items Naira US Dollar GB Pounds Euro

1 Cash in bank 8,281,577,243.92 1,819,866,364.73 3,800.00 113,399.17

2 Frozen in bank 48,159,179,518.90 7,131,369,498.49 605,647.55

3 Valued

properties

41,534,605,998.00 77,844,600.00 1,875,000.00 190,000.00

4 Value of cars 52,500,000.00

5 ONSA Funds 27,001,464,125.20 43,771,433.73

6 Value of Assets

Recovered by

ONSA

512,000,000.00

7 ONSA Assets 260,000,000.00

8 DSS

Recoveries

Frozen

658,929,000.00 226,476.20

9 EFCC Cash in

Bank

103,225,209.41 17,165,547.00

Total 126,563,481,095.43 9,090,243,920.15 2,484,447.55 303,399.17

Grand Total 204,888,835,727.25 9,275,363,504.76 5,992,803.01 314,649.17



Table 4c: Funds Expected from foreign countries and Non Cash Recoveries

Countries US Dollar GB

Pounds

Euro S/N Items Quantity

1 Switzerland 321000000 ICPC EFCC ONSA

2 UK 6900000 1 Farmland 22

3 UAE 310501 11826.11 2 Plot of Land 4

4 USA 6225.1 3 Uncompleted

Building

1

4 Completed

Building

33 145 4

Total 321,316,726.1 6,900,000 11,826.11 5 Vehicles 22 3

6 Maritime

Vessels

5

Total 82 153 4

Sources: Asiwe, 2016b

The table revealed that the APC‘s anti-corruption fight recovered four categories

of items, namely: cash, items under interim for feature, cash and non-cash

recoveries expected from foreign countries. While this was on, the APC then

established the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and the Bank Verification

Number (BVN) to discourage multiple savings by government, encourage

investors and expose those who have stolen from the coffers. This however led

to the exposure of judicial corruption and the arrest of corrupt judges who made

huge sums from faulty judgments (Daniel, 2016), and acquire properties in

choice places in Nigeria.

The APC government established a National Persecution Team comprises of

high classed Nigerian Lawyers to review the corruption cases reported and

already investigated by anti-graft agencies over the years. While the corruption

cases were been looked into, it was discovered that the PDP was unable to

prosecute the war on insurgency as a result of the misappropriation of the fund

meant for this purpose. As a test of its efficiency, the EFCC was asked to

investigate and a lot of persons were arrested. Apart from those listed above, as

beneficiaries of the arm procurement fund; the EFCC has arrested, detained and

allowed the bail application of some of the following:



Table 5: People under EFCC’s Investigation S/N NAME OFFENSES AMOUNT

1. Steve Oronsaye (Former Fed Head of

Service)

Arraigned for stealing & money laundering N1.9bn

2. Abdulrashed Maina (former chairman

of Pension Reform)

Arraigned for misappropriation & looting of

police pension funds

-

3. Femi Fani-Kayode (former Minister) Arraigned for sharing in the campaign funds of the PDP

N800m

4. Azibaola Robert (Former President,

Jonathan‘s cousin)

Arraigned for pipeline contract scam $40m

5. Alex Badeh (Former Chief of Defense

Staff

Contracts awarded while in office $930m

6. Patrick Akpobolokemi (Former Director General of NIMASA)

Arraigned for diverting money meant for the development of Okerenkoko University

N3.7bn

7. Patience Jonathan Arraigned for claiming ownership of the money

found in former President Jonathan aide‘s

account

$31.4m

8. Marshal Mohammed Dikko Umar) Ex-Chief of Air Staff

Siphoned from the a/c Nigerian Air force to purchase six choice properties in Abuja, Kano

and Kaduna.

N4.8bn

9. Ekpemukpolo Aka Tompolo Wanted in Delta State for fraud N49.6bn

10. Ekpemukpolo Aka Tompolo Wanted for conspiracy and diversion of money

belonging to NIMASA.

N45.9bn

11. Dr. Muazu Babangida (Former Gov) and Former Chief of Staff, Niger State

Converting Niger States N5b for their personal use

N5bn

12. Dr. Fortunate Fiberesima, a former

Chief Executive Officer, State House

Medical Centre, Abuja

Contract scam N258,950,000.00

13. Andrew Yakubu, former Group Managing Director of the N N P C.

Huge cash discovered in his apartment in Kaduna $9.2m

Source: Compiled by the Author 2016

In addition to those listed above, the APC government is currently preparing to

investigate lawmakers in both houses over the constituency projects allocated to

them as appropriated in the budget of 2014 and 2015. To boost the anti-

corruption fight, the APC government adopted the whistle blowing strategy in

December last year, allowing the whistle blower 2.5% - 5% of the amount

recovered. The table 6 shows the recovery so far

Table 6 the Recovery So far

Date Place of Discovery Amount involved

February Apartment of former GMD of

NNPC, Yakubu Andrew

$9, 772, 800, £74, 000 &#23.2m

February Balogun Market, Lagos N250m

March Kaduna Airport N49m

March A shop in Victoria Island, Lagos N448m

March – April Other discoveries $15.3m

April Osborne Tower, Ikoyi Lagos N13.3bn

Source: Compiled by the Author 2016

Lastly, to curb corrupt practices and discourage youth participation in

corruption, the Federal government released 5% of the fund required for the



implementation of the APC‘s Social Intervention Programme (SIP), which was

one aspect of their campaign (Usman, 2016). For continuity and the sustenance

of the programme, the APC ensured that N500bn was budgeted in Nigeria‘s

2017 spending plan.

Controversies in the APC’s fight against Corruption

The anti-corruption fight improved Nigeria‘s international image and earned

Nigeria respect and recognition. The anti-corruption posture of Nigeria is timely

and the right step to allow for growth and development. However, there are

some controversial issues that need clarification. One of such issues is the

misconception by some APC members that PDP converts are not corrupt. While

some scholars have decried the delay in the persecution process of the accused

and the detention made outside the law of the land, some others do not believe

in the genuineness of the fight and are unhappy with what they called ‗politics

of selection‘, where APC‘s fight against corruption is targeted at the opposition,

PDP. The APC members have often said that the fight is against the PDP‘s

sixteen (16) years of corrupt rule. But these scholars pointed out that the ACN,

now APC also ruled Lagos for the same number of years, why will the EFCC

not investigate Lagos State? Again, they argue that since the EFCC Probed

former Governor Sule Lamido‘s eight year rule, the EFCC could have as well

probed former Governor Rotimi Amaechi‘s eight year rule; to complete the

corruption fight. But according to Engr. Babachir David Lawal, the suspended

Secretary to the Federal Government, APC members are not corrupt because

they did not have access to funds to steal and are clean by providence (Ajayi,

2016). The SGF forgot that the APC is made up of some PDP members that

ruled under PDP for sixteen years.

Another major issue is that of the 2016 budget padding. At the beginning of the

padding saga, the APC government vowed to punish those who embarrassed

Nigeria by padding the 2016 budget (Aziken, 2016b). After the removal of

Abdulmumin Jibrin, the APC government relented, stated categorically that the

budget was not padded and consequently, no further investigation was carried

out. Meanwhile, Nigerians were waiting to see how things will unfold and the

culprit punished. Since nothing happened, Nigerians at different places

expressed their disappointment at the way, the padding saga was handled.

Another area which shows biases in the anti-corruption fight of the APC

government is the non-acceptance of the Senate request for the removal of the

Secretary to the Federal government (SGF), Babachir Lawal to allow for

investigation. The Senate had discovered that 20 companies that were awarded

contract, under the supervision of the secretary; were ghost firms. The APC

government refused to accept and suspend the SGF. But after pressure from the

Senate and other Nigerians, the APC suspended the SGF and set up a committee

under the chairmanship of the Vice-President, Yemi Osibanjo to investigate the



issue. According to Nigerians, the implication of this is that the Presidency is

acting as a judge in its own case. Some scholars have argued that the fight

against corruption cannot be meaningful as a result of the low income wage in

Nigeria. They believe that with an income wage of #18,000, people may not be

able to meet up with their responsibility, without engaging in illegal deals.

Consequently, some are calling for an increase in the minimum wage; if the

anti-corruption fight will be effective and efficient. Lastly, some of the agencies

under the Executive arm of government like the SSS, NIA and the EFCC who

are supposed to cooperate in the anti-corruption war are not at peace with each

other, some others are disappointing in their activities (Busari, 2017).

Conclusion

Achebe (Achebe, 1983 in Baldauf, 2013) notes several years back, that

corruption is everywhere in Nigeria and that it has overwhelmed the organs of

governance in Nigeria. Nigerians were ill served by the political parties that

have assumed leadership role since 1999, as People elected on the platform of

this political parties to represent their constituencies, are only there for

themselves, their family and their political associates. They create channels to

acquire and loot the treasury; buy some of the national assets for themselves to

milk the people they are supposed to serve. They do all these without paying tax

on their profits and earnings. The workers who created the wealth are poorly

remunerated, while politicians/political leaders destroy and appropriate the

wealth irresponsibly. The country became dominated by mercenaries and

merchants, who see political parties as a mean for acquiring easy wealth. The

way and manner political parties misappropriate wealth and create hardship for

the people gradually encouraged the growth of corruption in Nigeria, from what

it used to be; to a more systematic one. For this good number of years impunity

reigned in the different arms of government in Nigeria.

The anti-corruption war of the PDP in 1999 laid the foundation for the APC led

administration. The success of the anti-graft agencies lies on the determination

of the APC government under Buhari to stamp out corruption. The APC

governments encouraged and revamped the agencies to work assiduously

towards tackle corruption, reversing the negative global perception of Nigeria,

and restored the peoples failed hope. As soon the APC assumed office, the

president embarked on several journeys campaigning for the return of stolen

funds stashed in foreign countries.

The political will and sincerity of the APC administration to pursue the anti-

corruption fight to its logical conclusion is commendable, as the war on

corruption should not be against individuals or institutions; but geared towards

reviving the decayed political structures in the system. Although the war has

been successful to some extent with the stolen funds recovered, creation of a

Single Treasury Account and the Bank Verification Number which were used to



fish out corrupt judges, it will however be completed when the economy is

stimulated.

Recommendations

Nigeria has been hunted by a specter of corruption, and this became a major

problem which affected standard of living, investment and public earnings. This

can finally be subjected to control when the following are implemented:

i. It has to be a holistic one in which the APC will start with its members who

have served in the PDP before joining the APC.

ii. Ensure prompt payment and the financial independence of the anti-graft

agencies.

iii. Overhaul the oversight functions of the law makers and make political

parties or politicians, who are engaged in corrupt practices to lose their seat

in parliament.

iv. Overhaul the judicial system to rigorously enforce the anti-corruption laws

and enact stiffer penalties for corrupt persons.

v. Amend the immunity clauses imbedded in the Nigerian constitution, to

enable the trial and persecution of highly placed political office holders.

vi. Activities of politicians and party leaders should be monitored and exposed

by civil society organizations.

vii. Reduce the cost of governance by making the legislature a part time

institution.

viii. Institutionalize the anti-graft/corruption agencies, by decentralising the

agency.

References Abdulganiy, M. (2015, November 30). Exclusive: Dasuki got Jonathan‘s approvals

to collect $2.1bn from NNPC in 9 months. Retrieved from https://www.

thecable.ng/ exclusive-dasuki-got-jonathans-approvals-collect-2-1bn-nnpc-9-

months

Ackerman, S. (1997). Corruption and development. In annual World Bank

conference on development economics. Washington D. C

Adedeji, J. O. and Olanrewaju, S. A. (2012). Corruption and development in

Nigeria: A psychological perspective. Global Journal of Human Social

Science, Arts and Humanities, 12 (9).

Adesomoju, A., Olokor, F. & Onuba, I. (2016, Aug. 22). Corruption: FG launches

major war against senators, Reps. Retrieved from http://punchng.com/

corruption-fg-launches-major-war-senators-reps/

AfDB (2009). African Staistical Year Book. Abidjan: African Development Bank

Group.

https://www.thecable.ng/%20exclusive-dasuki-got-jonathans-approvals-collect-2-1bn-nnpc-9-months



http://punchng.com/corruption-fg-launches-major-war-senators-reps/

http://punchng.com/corruption-fg-launches-major-war-senators-reps/




Group.


Group.

Agarwal, A. (2011). Essay on the concept elite theory. Retrieved from http://www.

preservearticles.com/201107048794/essay-on-the-concept-elite-theory.html

Agbakwuru , J. (2016, Apr. 19). 108 SUVs for senators, criminal – NLC. Retrieved

from http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/108-suvs-senators-criminal-nlc/

Ajayi, O. (2016, June 27). Anti-graft crusade: Why we‘re not probing APC

members — Lawal, SGF. Retrieved from http://www.vanguardngr.com/

2016/06/anti-graft-crusade-not-probing-apc-members-lawal-sgf/

Akawu, F. A. (2007). Good Governance as a panacea for poverty alleviation in

Nigeria. In Akpotor, A. S., Afolabi, A. O., Aigbokhaevbolo, M. O., Iganiga,

B. O., & Odiagbe, O. S.(Eds). Cost of Governance in Nigeria: An Evaluative

Analysis. Faculty of the Social Sciences, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma.

Akintide, W. (2016, August 27). The Nigerian National Assembly is more about

bogus allowances than making laws. Retrieved from https://secure.

saharareporters.com/2015/08/27/nigerian-national-assembly-more-about-

bogus-allowances-making-laws-dr-wumi-akintide

Akure, J. (2016, September 25). Ondo poll: APC crisis deepens. Retrieved

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/09/ondo-poll-apc-crisis-deepens/

Anaba, I. (2016, march 2). Court orders account of recovered loot from 1999.

Retrieved from http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/615964/

Asiwe, E. (2016a, Aug. 30). Gov.Atiku Bagudu: Inside the money-laundering

triangle. Retrieved from http://huhuonline.com/hunew/index.php/ huhuonline-

more-news/8304-atiku-bagudu-inside-the-money-laundering-triangle

…….. (2016b, June 4). Looting: FG releases interim report on financial, assets

recoveries. Retrieved from http://huhuonline.com/hunew/index. php/huhu-

online-more-news/7612-looting-fg-releases-interim-report-on-financial-

assets-recoveries

Atelhe, A. E. & Timikoru, A. F. (2014). Re-visiting political corruption and

development in Nigeria under democratic rule. Academic Journal of

Interdisciplinary Studies, Vol. 3(1)

Awosiyan, K. (2015, Dec. 3). How politicians allegedly shared $2.1 arms funds.

Retrieved from http://silverbirdtv.com/politics/10415-how-politicians-

allegedly-shared-21-arms-funds

http://www.preservearticles.com/201107048794/essay-on-the-concept-elite-

http://www.preservearticles.com/201107048794/essay-on-the-concept-elite-

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/108-suvs-senators-criminal-nlc/

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/06/anti-graft-crusade-not-probing-apc-members-lawal-sgf/

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/06/anti-graft-crusade-not-probing-apc-members-lawal-sgf/

https://secure.saharareporters.com/2015/08/27/nigerian-national-assembly-more-about-bogus-allowances-making-laws-dr-wumi-akintide



http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/09/ondo-poll-apc-crisis-deepens/

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/615964/

http://huhuonline.com/hunew/index.php/huhuonline-more-news/8304-atiku-bagudu-inside-the-money-laundering-triangle

http://huhuonline.com/hunew/index.php/huhuonline-more-news/8304-atiku-bagudu-inside-the-money-laundering-triangle

http://huhuonline.com/hunew/index.php/huhuonline-more-news/7612-looting-fg-releases-interim-report-on-financial-assets-recoveries



http://silverbirdtv.com/politics/10415-how-politicians-allegedly-shared-21-arms-funds

http://silverbirdtv.com/politics/10415-how-politicians-allegedly-shared-21-arms-funds



Ayobami, O. O. (2011). Corruption eradication in Nigeria: An appraisal. Retrieved

from http://unllib.unl.edu/LPP/

Aziken, E. (2016a, April 15). Nigeria had no political will to save under Jonathan

—Okonjo-Iweala. Retrieved from http://www.vanguardngr.com/ 2016/04/

nigeria-had-no-political-will-to-save-under-jonathan-okonjo-iweala/

…….. (2016b, Dec. 28). The year when a padded budget got missing. Retrieved

from http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/12/year-padded-budget-got-missing/

Baldauf, S. (2013). Chinua Achebe on corruption and hope in Nigeria. Retrieved

from http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2013/0322/Chinua-Achebe-

on-corruption-and-hope-in-Nigeria

Blechinger, V. (2002). Corruption and political parties. Management Systems

International, 600Water Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024 USA

Buba, A. M. (2010). Corruption and Poverty: A Sure Way to Slow-Down the Pace

of Development. Retrieved from http://www.gamji.com /article6000/.....

Busari, K. (2017, December 14). Magu speaks on ‗street fight‘ between EFCC,

SSS, NIA officials. Retrieved from https://www.premiumtimesng. com/news/

headlines/252487-magu-speaks-street-fight-efcc-sss-nia-officials.html

Clark, R. (2016, August 7). Budget padding: 80% of constituency projects‘ monies

are misappropriated – Clark. Retrieved from http://www. channelstv.com

/2016/08/07/budget-padding-80-of-constituency-projects-monies-are-

misappropriated-clark/

Dania, O. (2016, Aug. 12). Corruption thrives everywhere in government – Rep

Kehinde. Retrieved from http://www.vanguardngr.com/ 2016/08/corruption-

thrives-everywhere-govt-rep-kehinde/

Daniel, S. (2016a, July 15). N4.7bn cash: How DSS arrested Obanikoro‘s wife.

Retrieved from http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/07/n4-7bn-cash-dss-

arrests-obanikoros-wife/

……. (2016b, Oct. 10). Crackdown on corrupt judges: How BVN gave out

suspects‘ hidden cash. Retrieved from http://www. vanguardngr.com/

2016/10/crackdown-corrupt-judges-bvn-gave-suspects-hidden-cash/

Dike, V. E. (2008). Corruption in Nigeria: A new paradigm for effective control.

Retrieved from http://www.africaeconomicanalysis.org/articles/ gen/corrupt-

iondikehtm.html

Ezeani, E.O. (2010). Political Science: An Introduction. Abakaliki: Willyrose and

Appleseed Publishing Company

Gaskia, J. (2016, August 2). Budget padding, constituency projects, corruption and

the trouble with Nigeria's ruling elites. Retrieved from http://saharareporters.

http://unllib.unl.edu/LPP/

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/nigeria-had-no-political-will-to-save-under-jonathan-okonjo-iweala/

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/nigeria-had-no-political-will-to-save-under-jonathan-okonjo-iweala/

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2013/0322/Chinua-Achebe-on-corruption-and-hope-in-Nigeria

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2013/0322/Chinua-Achebe-on-corruption-and-hope-in-Nigeria

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/08/corruption-thrives-everywhere-govt-rep-kehinde/

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/08/corruption-thrives-everywhere-govt-rep-kehinde/

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/07/n4-7bn-cash-dss-arrests-obanikoros-wife/

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/07/n4-7bn-cash-dss-arrests-obanikoros-wife/

http://www.africaeconomicanalysis.org/articles/gen/corruptiondikehtm.html

http://www.africaeconomicanalysis.org/articles/gen/corruptiondikehtm.html

http://saharareporters.com/2016/08/02/budget-padding-constituency-projects-corruption-and-trouble-nigerias-ruling-elites-jaye



com/2016/08/02/budget-padding-constituency-projects-corruption-and-

trouble-nigerias-ruling-elites-jaye

Johari, J. C. (2011). Comparative politics. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers

Lipset, S. M. & Lenz, G. S. (2000). Corruption culture and markets, in Culture

Matters, Lawrence, E. H. and Huntington, S. P. (Eds.), Basic Books: New

York

Mattew, E. E. & Idowu, C. A. (2012). Political corruption and national development

in Nigeria. A conference paper presented at the International conference on

democracy, governance and curbing corruption in sub-saharan Africa,

Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, USA 8-10 August.

Mustapha, M. (2010). Corruption in Nigeria: Conceptual and Empirical Notes,

Information, Society and Justice, 3(2)

Ndujihe, C., Akinrefon, D., Kumolu, C. & Oke, G. (2016, Aug. 15). Why Nigeria

squandered N96trn oil earnings — Tsav, Mohammed, Ikokwu, Odumakin.

Retrieved from http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/08/nigeria-squandered-

n96trn-oil-earnings-tsav-mohammed-ikokwu-odumakin/

Nnochiri, I. (2016, August 12). Budget padding: Why House inserted projects –

Yakubu Dogara. Retrieved from http://www.vanguardngr. com/2016/08/

budget-padding-house-inserted-projects/

Nwabughiogu, L. (2017, Feb., 28). Elite encouraging corruption in Nigeria.

Retrieved from http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/02/elite-encouraging-

corruption-nigeria-osinbajo/

Odunsi, W. (2016, August 1). NASS been padding budget since 1999; Dogara

sacked me for trying to stop him – Jibrin. Retrieved from

http://dailypost.ng/2016/08/01/ nasspadding-budget-since-1999-dogara-

sacked-trying-stop-jibrin/

Oketola, D. & Adetayo, O. (2012, Dec. 6). Nigeria is 35th most corrupt nation-TI.

Retrieved from http://www.punchng.com/news/nigeria-is-35th-most-corrupt-

nation-ti/

Omeje, C. (2017, Feb 2). Buhari, Jonathan‘s Campaign Expenditures Breached

Electoral Act. Retrieved from https://www.icirnigeria.org/buhari-jonathans-

campaign-expenditures-breached-electoral-act/

Osiobe, P. O. & Isedu, M. O. (2007). Corruption and cost of governance. In A. S.

Akpotor, A. O. Afolabi, M.O. Aigbokhaevbolo, B. O. Iganga, O. S. Odiagbe

(Eds.) Cost of governance in Nigeria: An evaluative analysis. Benin City:

Mara Mon Bros. Ent.

Pindiga, H. I. (2013, July 22). Nigerian Lawmakers top salaries chart. Retrieved

from http://allafrica.com/stories/201307221471.html



http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/08/nigeria-squandered-n96trn-oil-earnings-tsav-mohammed-ikokwu-odumakin/

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/08/nigeria-squandered-n96trn-oil-earnings-tsav-mohammed-ikokwu-odumakin/

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/08/budget-padding-house-inserted-projects/

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/08/budget-padding-house-inserted-projects/

http://dailypost.ng/2016/08/01/%20nasspadding-budget-since-1999-dogara-sacked-trying-stop-jibrin/

http://dailypost.ng/2016/08/01/%20nasspadding-budget-since-1999-dogara-sacked-trying-stop-jibrin/

http://www.punchng.com/news/nigeria-is-35th-most-corrupt-nation-ti/

http://www.punchng.com/news/nigeria-is-35th-most-corrupt-nation-ti/

http://allafrica.com/stories/201307221471.html



SEAN (2016, Jan. 12). Complete list of names of people who collected money from

Sambo Dasuki unveiled. Retrieved from http://dailymail. com.ng/see-list-of-

names-of-people-who-collected-money-meant-to-purchase-arms-from-

former-national-security-adviser-sambo-dasuki-unveiled/

Sharma, M. P., Sadana, B. L. and Kaur, H. (2012, 48th Edition). Public

administration in theory and practice. Kotab Mahal: New Delhi.

The Nigerianewsfan (2016, July 30). Anti-corruption war: Is Buhari winning?

Retrieved from https://nigerianewsfan.wordpress.com /2016/07/30/anti-

corruption-war-is-buhari-winning-2/

The Vanguard, Lagos (2016, March 3). Saraki formally replies Obasanjo, promises

to cut waste, fight corruption. Retrieved from http://www.vanguardngr.com/

2016/03/saraki-formally-replies-obasanjo-promises-to-cut-waste-fight-

corruption/

Ujah, E. (2015, June 12). What federal and state legislators earn. Retrieved from

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/06/what-federal-and-state-legislators-

earn/on June 12, 2015

UNODC (2016). Corruption is the thief of economic and social development, says

UNODC Chief at anti-corruption opening in Panama. Retrieved from

https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2013/November/corruption-is-

the-thief-of-economic-and-social-development-says-unodc-chief-at-anti-

corruption-opening-in-panama.html

Usman, T. (2016, Oct. 26). Nigerian govt. releases N25 billion for social

intervention programmes. Retrieved from http://www.premium-

timesng.com/news/top-news/213735-nigerian-govt-releases-n25-billion-

social-intervention-programmes.html

Wali, O. (2013, January 21)). Nigeria‘s economy stunted by corruption. An excerpt

of the speech delivered by Wali, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and President,

Nigerian Bar Association at the 9th Chief Gani Fawehinmi annual

lecture/Symposium organized by the NBA Ikeja branch in Lagos on Tuesday

January 15, 2013. Retrieved from http://www.punchng.com/ feature/the-law-

you/nigerias-economy-stunted-by-corruption/

Yusuf, I. A. (2015, July 26). Nigerian political parties misused public funds—

survey. Retrieved from http://thenationonlineng.net/nigerian-political-parties-

misused-public-funds-survey/

http://dailymail.com.ng/see-list-of-names-of-people-who-collected-money-meant-to-purchase-arms-from-former-national-security-adviser-sambo-dasuki-unveiled/



https://nigerianewsfan.wordpress.com/2016/07/30/anti-corruption-war-is-buhari-winning-2/

https://nigerianewsfan.wordpress.com/2016/07/30/anti-corruption-war-is-buhari-winning-2/

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/saraki-formally-replies-obasanjo-promises-to-cut-waste-fight-corruption/



https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2013/November/corruption-is-the-thief-of-economic-and-social-development-says-unodc-chief-at-anti-corruption-opening-in-panama.html



http://www.punchng.com/%20feature/the-law-you/nigerias-economy-stunted-by-corruption/

http://www.punchng.com/%20feature/the-law-you/nigerias-economy-stunted-by-corruption/

http://thenationonlineng.net/nigerian-political-parties-misused-public-funds-survey/

http://thenationonlineng.net/nigerian-political-parties-misused-public-funds-survey/



Appendix

Table 3: Beneficiaries of the Arms Procurement Fund

Name Detail Amount

Arch Musa Sada Asabe

and Asamau Ahmed

Shared from N23.29billion campaign

fund to disbursed to politicians to

influence the 2015 elections

N1.1billion (700m and

105m)

Diezani Allison-

Madueke

Minister who collected N23.29billion

to disburse to politicians as campaign

fund.

N23.29billion

Rashidi Ladoja Ex- governor who collected money

fron the NSA‘s office

N100m

FG Spent on elections in Ekiti and Osun

state

N10bn

Chief Achike Udenwa Collected from Nenadi Usman, who

was the Director of Finance for the

Goodluck Jonathan Campaign

Organisation.

N350 million

Austin Umahi Nenadi Usman gave to PDP Ebonyi

State for the 2015 presidential

election

N400 million

Spotless Investments Cash paid into a cooperate account N117m

Peter Odili Ex- governor who collected money

from the NSA‘s office

N100m

Attahiru Bafarawa Ex- governor who collected money


N100m

Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi Ex- governor who collected money


N100m

Jim Nwobodo Ex- governor who collected money


N500m

Raymond Dokpesi Business man and politician who

collected money from the NSA‘s

office

N2.1b

Bafarawa Ex- governor who collected money


N4.6b

Chief Anenih Collected money from the NSA‘s

office

N260m

Ahmadu Ali Former PDP chairman who collected

money from the NSA‘s office

N100m

Chief Bode George Collected money from the NSA‘s

office

N100m

Yerima Abdullahi Collected money from the NSA‘s

office

N100m

Chief Olu Falae Collected money from the NSA‘s

office

N100m

Tanko Yakassai Collected money from the NSA‘s

office

N63m



Gen.Bello Sarkin Yaki Collected money from the NSA‘s

office

N200m

Iyorchia Ayu‘s

company

Collected money from the NSA‘s

office

N345m

Senator Obanikoro Collected money from the NSA‘s

office

N4.68bn

BAM Properties Company used to collect money from

the NSA‘s office

N300m

Dalhatu Investments

LTD

Company used to collect money from

the NSA‘s office

N1.5m

Mohammed Bello

Haliru, Abba

Mohammed, Sagir

Attahiru, Serving and

former members of

House of Reps.


office

Over N600m

Oliseh Metuh PDP Nat. Sec., who collected money


N400m

Former Chairman,

House of Rep. on

Security & Intell. Bello

Matawalle.


office

N300m

ACACIA holdings Company used to collect money from

the NSA‘s office

N600m

Bashir Yuguda Minister who collected money from

the NSA‘s office

N1, 950, 000

Compiled by the author from Awosiyan, Daniel, Sean and the Nationonline.com

political party and corruption in nigeria: assessment ... · corruption in nigeria, with an...

Documents